Supplemental shock absorber



Feb. 16, 1960 A. w. BLYTHE 2,925,263

' SUPPLEMENTAL sHocx ABSORBER Filed mrch sl, 195a .EZ'G. .1.

INVENTOR function of the shock absorber.

-Another.object is to' provide a construction in the i a tubular sleeve whereby thefdegree of its 'resiliencyis varied at different portions of thelength thereofso that United States. O?

p 35,925363 SUPPLEMENTAL SHOCK ABSORBER I I Allen W. Blythe, jWhittieriCalif.

Application March 31,1958, Serial No. 725,267 i a 1o 5 Claims. (C1. zs -s This invention relates to an attachment for conven tional shock absorbers of the type employed on'automobiles for the purpose of supplementing the operation of such shock absorbers to render their action more efl'icient and to compensate for wear thereof, the invention particularly pertaining to improvements in'the type of shock absorber attachment. set forth in Letters Patent No.

2,833,535,.issued to me under-date of.May6, 1958. 7

: .-In addition to the objects, and purposes set forthin Patented Feb. s, 1969- I out except that the 6 ofits open end is outwardlyflared. Slidably extending into the open. end of. the

cylinder 5 is .one end portion of an elongated -.cylindricalpiston 7, the other end portion of. whichprotrudes from the cylinder 5.; The piston 7 is of uniform external diameter throughout less than that of the cylinder 5 so that its outer surfacexis offset inwardly relativeto the outer face of the Cylinder 5. The outerends ofthe cylinder 5 and piston 7 are afiixed to the brackets AB whereby on movement of the brackets relative to-each other-the cylinder and, piston will be reciprocated-rela-' tive to each other. to effect .ashock absorbing actionziri the usual manner.

In' carrying out open ended tubular sleeve D is provided which sleeve is designed to be mounted on the shock absorber in en V compassing relation thereto. The sleeve D embodies an the above named patent, an object of this invention is to. F

provide an attachment embodying an open -ended re- Another object is to provide aconstruction in silient tubular sleeve having acontinuous elastic eylin= V drical side wall adapted to be *aflixed in encompz issing. engagement .with'a pair of relatively reciprocal'telescoped,

cylindricalxelements of a conventional type of shock absorber apart from the mounting-thereof; i

tubularsleeve which while permitting relative *longitu- 'dinal movement of the shock absorber will ofier;yieldable resistance 'to such movement such as to augment the 7 little resistance will be offered to initial elongation or V compression of the sleeve followed by:;greatly increased resistance to further elongation; of compression,

A further object is to provide a resilient. sleeveQfor encompassing the relatively movable telescopedelements sleeve. so as to cooperate with theresilientproperty of are provided for reinforcing the wall of the sleeve against excessive distortion under internal fand external. pr'ese "suresgjimposed therein particularly; as are .;develop,edflby displacement of the air ,bodyi;entrappediwithin.the sleeve; With the foregoing objects in ,view together with such other objects and; advantages as may; subsequently appear, the.invention resides; in the parts and in-th'e com- 'bination, construction andfarrangement ofparts herein- 1 after described and claimed" and as illustratedby1way of example in the accompanying drawing in which;

Fig. 1 is a view of the attachment as seen in elevation.

partly in section showingit detached; p

p Fig. 2 is a'perspectiveview of the attachment. showing it as applied, with parts broken away; and

elastic cylindrical side wall 8 of general uniform external diameter 'and having internal end portions of different diameters; the end portion of the sleeve of the largest internalv diameter having an inner cylindrical wall surface 9 conformable to .the exterior of thecylinder 5 and the end portion ofthe 'sleeve'of .smallest internal diam 10 con;

eter 'havingan inner cylindrical WaILLsuIface formable to the exterior ofthe piston- 7 i1 f The. sleeve D is formed adjacent its endswithexternal circumferential channels, 111"1-1-for the receptionz of metallic clamping bands 12-12 1 meansjof which the wall '8 is. clamped into gripping engagement-with '30 the the cylinder 5 and piston .7 adjacent their outer ends, the.sleeve D having a length such that itsends" 'will be disposed 'a short distance in' inwardly spaced relation ,to therouter ends of the cy1inder 5 and piston-'7 when-in their extended position relative to each other.

The cylindrical inner wall surfaces 'd I O ofthe sleeve D are co-axial and terminate interiorly 'of the sleevelin' an annular shoulder 13 located to encompass the piston 7 in outwardly spaced relation to the flared end.6 "of theicylinder 5 so as to form "a chamber-=14 affording suflicient'clearance betweenthe shoulder '13- and cylinder end 6 such as-to permit advance of the cylinder 5 and piston 7 relativeto each other without impact of a the end: of the cylinder on theshoulder 13 .except possibly at or approaching the end of the extreme inward relative movement of the piston and cylinder.

Formed on the exterior of the sleeve D is'a series "of a I of a shock absorber inwhich air is entrappedwithin the the latter in efliecting a cushioning action, in which means j adjacent the point opposite the shoulder'liiiand opposite l j the space .14 and terminating adjacent the "channel llj. at. the end ofthe .sleeve encompassing the shoulder "5i .The ribs 15 serve to stiffen the wall portion 8 of'the sleeve overlying the cylinder 5 7 and the space 14 between which portion and the portions of the shock absorber.

Fig. 3 is a detail in crosssection taken onthe line 3+3 of Fig.2. v

Referring to the drawings ,more specifically lei. andB indicate spaced vertically opposed upper and lower bracklongitudinally extending reinforc'ingribs 15 leading from encompassed thereby'is entrapped Ia body of The wall portion 8 of the sleeve D encompassingthe pistonl is reinfo'rcedby a plurality of circumferentiallyextend ing ribs 16 which while serving to reinforce the lower end portion of, thesle'eve'against excessive lateral "'e'x- I pans-ion offer littleresistance to compression'orge'longation of this portion. of the wall of the sleeve! 1 Inthe application of the attachment, the sleeve D is applied to the shock absorber C by inserting the piston, detached from the bra'eketiB, into the internally enlarged -'end portion-of the sleeve, and 'advaneingwthe'piston through the .reducedinternal end portion, to bring the ends .ofthe' sleeve in desiredinwardly spaced;relation p "fro'mtthe ends of the cylinder Sand piston 7 a indicated in Fig.;,2',[with'the piston 7 man extended'position 1 relative to the cylinder "5. -The clamping rings lz are appliedand tightened so as-tobring ,the end portions of the sleeve D into,gripping and sealed, engagement with' v 1 the cylinder and piston; In gthis position theshoulderf the invention, an elongated resilient: i

13 will be spaced outwardly relative to the flared end 6 of the cylinder as shown. The portion of the sleeve D encompassing the piston 7 snugly conforms to the latter between the shoulder 13 and the lower end of the sleeve while the other end portion of the sleeve between the upper clamping ring '12 and the shoulder 13 loosely encompass the cylinder 5, which, with theclearance afforded by the space 14, provides a dead air space between the sleeve and the shock absorber within which a body of air is confined.

In the operation of the invention compressive movement of the shock absorber, wherein the piston 7 and cylinder 5 advance relative to each other, as when the brackets A and B are moved toward each other, the elastic wall 8, particularly the portion thereof encompassing the internally enlarged part 9 will be extended laterally under its inherent resistance, by displacement of the air body confined in the sleeve D coupled with the longitudinal compressive pressure imposed on the wall 8 by advance of the cylinder 5 and piston 7 relative to each other. During this action the air body confined in the sleeve D will be subjected to pressure which with the resistance offered by the resilient wall 8 will act to cushion initialcompressive movement of the shock absorber and thereby relieve the latter of sudden impact, and during this operation the longitudinal stiffening ribs 15 will act to limit compression of the portion of the Wall 3 carrying the ribs Y15 and whereby the major portion of the longitudinal compression of the sleeve will occur in the circumfere'ntially ribbed lower portion thereof encompass ing the piston 7. In event of extreme inward movement of the cylinder 5 and piston 7 relative to each other the flared end .6 of the cylinder 5 and the internal shoulder .15 of the sleeve D will impact each other whereby the circumferentially ribbed portion of the sleeve then under some compression will act as a cushioning abutment at the end of the compressive movement of the shock absorber.

Onrebound of the shock absorber, occurring when the brackets A-B of the vehicle carrying same are caused to spread apart beyond their normal position, which effects relative outward movement of the cylinder 5 and piston 7 beyond normal, such movement of the cylinder and piston elongates the sleeve D against its inherent resistance to stretch the wall 8 and at the same time tending to produce negative pressure .interiorly 'of the sleeve thus setting up forces yieldably resisting extension of theshock absorber cylinder and piston relative to each other with gradually increasing resistance. Cushioning of the extension movement of the shock absorber beyond its normal position is thus markedly augmented. Due to the. increasing resistance afforded by the attachment the shock absorber will normally reach the termination of its compressive and expansive strokes without impact or sudden jar which inures to smooth and comfortable .riding in the vehicle having shock absorbers of the character set forth equipped with the attachment.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction set forth, and the invention embraces such changes, modifications and equivalents of the parts and their formation and arrangement as come within the purview of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An attachment for shock absorbers comprising an open ended tubular sleeve embodying a continuous resilient cylindrical side wall having end portions of differential internal diameters with an internal shoulder at the intersection of said end portions, a series of longitudinal reinforcing ribs on the exterior of the end portion having the larger internal diameter, and a series of circumferentially extending ribs on the exterior of the end portion having the lesser internal diameter.

2. The combination'with a shock absorber for positionmg between relativelymoveab-le membe e n t e e of said members; of a resilient tubular sleeve open at its ends having an elastic cylindrical side wall, the opposite end portions of which sleeve have different internal diameters, said sleeve encompassing said shock absorber with the end portion thereof having the larger internal diameter encompassing said cylinder-and projecting from the free end thereof and with the end portion of said sleeve of the lesser internal diameter encompassing the projected portion of said piston; and means clamping the end portions of said sleeve in sealed gripping engagement with said cylinder and piston; there being a dead air chamber interiorly of said sleeve, said sleeve having a series of longitudinally extending ribs on the exterior of the end portion thereof of larger internal diameter.

3. The combination with a shock absorber for positioning between relatively moveable members, wherein the shock absorber embodies a cylinder attached at one end to one of said members and having an open free end, and including a piston in said cylinder projecting from the free end of said cylinder and connected to the other of said members; of a resilient tubular sleeve open at its ends having an elastic cylindrical side wall, the opposite end portions of which sleeve have different internal diameters, said sleeve encompassing said shock absorber with the end portion thereof having the larger internal diameter encompassing said cylinder. and projecting from the free end thereof and with the end portion of said sleeve of the lesser internal diameter encompassing the projected portion of said piston; and means clamping the end portions of saidsleeve in sealed gripping engage ment with said cylinder and piston; there being a dead air chamber interiorly of said sleeve, said sleeve having a series of longitudinally extending ribs on the exteriorof the end portion thereof of larger internal diameter, and having a series of circumferentially extending ribs on the exterior thereof between said longitudinal ribs and an end of said sleeve.

4. The combination with a shock absorber for positioning between relatively moveable members, wherein the shock absorber embodies a cylinder attached at one end to one of said member and having an open free end, and including a piston in said cylinder projecting from the free end of said cylinder and connected to the other of said members; of a resilient tubular sleeve open at its ends having an elastic cylindrical side wall, the opposite end portions of which sleeve have different internal diameters, said sleeve encompassingsaid shock being a dead air chamber interiorly of said sleeve, said sleeve having aninternal annular shoulder at the juncture of its different internal diameters, said shoulder being normally spaced outwardly in relation to the. free end of said cylinder and constituting an abutment therefor, and a series of longitudinally extending ribs on the exterior of said sleeve leading from adjacent said shoulder to adjacent the outer end portion of said sleeve encompassing said cylinder.

5. The combination with a shock absorber for posi tioning between relatively moveable members, wherein the shock'ab sorber embodies a cylinder attachedat one end to one of said members and having an open free end, and including a piston in said cylinder projecting from the free end of said cylinder and connected to 1 the opposite end portions of which sleeve have different internal diameters, said sleeve encompassing said shock absorber with the end portion thereof having the larger internal diameter encompassing said cylinder and projecting from the free end thereof and with the end-pore 1 tion of said sleeve of the lesser internal diameter encompassing the projected portion of said piston; andj'means clamping the end portions of said sleeve in. sealed grip ping engagement with saidcylinder and piston; there being a dead air chamber'interiorly of said sleeve, said sleeve having a series of longitudinally extending ribs on the exterior of the end portion thereof encompassing References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 1,470,493 a how Oct. '9, 1923 2,833,535 Blythe p May 6, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 7 6 98322 1 Great Britain Oct 114, 1953 

